Mr Yaw Biredu Boateng, the Chief Cocoa Farmer for New Nsutam in the Eastern Region, has called for protection of cocoa farms as done for rubber plantations to preserve the trees from destruction.

He said timber merchants invaded cocoa farms in the area, fell the timber and carted them through the farms resulting in uprooting and destroying some of the cocoa trees.

He said galamsey operators also used excavators to dig trenches, thereby destroying the trees.

Mr Boateng said cocoa production was dwindling and if care was not taken, inputs to help increase yield would be a waste through activities of timber companies and galamsey operators.

“Cocoa is the back-bone of the Ghanaian economy and therefore the need for ensuring adequate security through laws and regulations for cocoa farms, to help sustain the economy,” he said.

Mr Boateng said the rubber plantations in the Western Region, to the contrary, were given adequate security, which protected growers from the wanton destruction of their rubber trees.